#56 - Supporting Australia

The World Cup is indescribable.

The great stage where the Messis and Maradonas, the Ronaldos and Ronaldinhos, the Cahills and Kewells; grace our living rooms and light up pubs everywhere by performing and competing in the World Game.

There is no other sporting event quite like it. One sport holding captive billions of people worldwide.

And Australia's in it! Even casual soccer fans stay up late to don the green & gold. Andrew Redmayne will be on the 20c coin before too long, images of his heroics against Peru have been plastered everywhere.

Those images are a joy to look at. They’re also remarkably distracting.

Plenty of eyebrows were raised when Qatar was chosen to host the World Cup. The eyebrows erupted into outrage when the reports started coming in.

Over 6,500 desperate migrant workers have been worked to death, many of them working the stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup. There are jail terms of 3 years for same-sex relationships, or 7-years for committing pre-marital sex.

Qatar has obfuscated on their promise of a carbon neutral World Cup, meanwhile searing temperatures will make players uncomfortable. It's also well known that Qatar spent millions bribing FIFA and their cronies for the hosting rights.

But it’s still the World Game. The ultimate stage. The biggest dance.

The tournament being in Qatar is inevitable. Australia will take their place with 31 other nations ready to fight it out.

Some of those 31 nations are in quagmire too. England Captain Harry Kane has stated that him and other national team captains are discussing ways to bring Qatar’s human rights issues back into the limelight.

It doesn't sit right. How can I support Australia at the World Cup and denounce Qatar for what they do?

I love how Australia punches above their weight on the world stage – we nearly took points off France, Italy and the Netherlands in recent tournaments! We have a go, we compete ferociously, we stick true to ourselves.

Let’s support Australia on-field, and that Aussie spirit off-field. Qatar won’t evolve into a liberal democracy just because we write about it, but we should keep the conversation alive. Organisations like Unite and Unison are trying to create a migrant workers center in Qatar and compensate families of deceased migrant workers.

The people on the ground at Qatar are in a really unique position to exert pressure. I hope the Socceroos join Harry Kane and others here. By raising awareness, we can help bring Qatar to account (even if the results aren't immediate).

I hope to support Australia on and off the field, as we punch above our weight on the global stage yet again.